More than 230,000 known marine species, and about ten percent of them face extinction threats. The Prince of Monaco Foundation in Spain and its president, Carol Portabella, marked World Oceans Day with a call to safeguard the blue world on Thursday the 8th.
Portabella also notes that roughly two million species remain undiscovered. In a detailed piece for Efe Verde, she highlights these regions as opportunities for exploration and protection, emphasizing the need to study and shield them.
Oceans span 360 million square kilometers, making up 71 percent of the planet’s surface and surpassing all continents in size. Yet only a small fraction has been explored or mapped in detail, underscoring how much remains unknown.
The ocean supplies half of the oxygen humans breathe and soaks up about 30 percent of the carbon dioxide produced. It also supports plant and animal life, serves climate regulation, and provides a protein source for billions. Portabella highlights this essential balance and the multiple roles oceans play in global well-being.
She notes that the vast, largely uncharted expanse remains largely untouched, with only about 1.2 percent currently protected. The Open Sea Convention, a framework within the United Nations Law of the Sea, requires ratification by multiple nations to advance the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity beyond national jurisdictions.
The next United Nations Ocean Conference is anticipated to take place in June 2025, with Nice among the memories of advocates from Monaco and Spain, as they look toward stronger marine protections.
The hope of the Ocean Treaty
Portabella emphasizes that after years of talks, an agreement is taking shape that centers environmental protection and biodiversity. It aims to address the proper conservation and sustainable use of offshore resources and to resolve key governance challenges.
This framework proposes management measures for new marine protected areas, the fair sharing of scientific and commercial benefits, and the distribution of profits from marine genetic resources. It also calls for environmental impact assessments for activities that could threaten marine ecosystems and the creation of a supervising authority.
A solid legal structure will also deter illegal actions such as piracy, unregulated fishing, and pollutant dumping that endanger the High Seas, oceans, and the species that depend on them for survival.
Indeed, signs suggest a shift toward a fairer and more sustainable development model. A future where people live in balance with other species on Earth, without depleting the resources the oceans offer, is increasingly plausible.
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Environmental authorities welcome a clearer path for protecting the seas and preserving their many benefits for current and future generations.
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